JLR helps parent Tata nearly double Jan. sales

India's largest vehicles maker, said its global vehicle sales for January nearly doubled to 85,714 units from a year earlier.

The sales include UK-based luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, whose sales nearly tripled in the month to 16,269 units from a year ago, the company said in a statement on Monday. Part of the increase is due to a comparison with weak unit sales in January 2009 due to the worsening of the global economic downturn.

Tata had earlier said domestic sales, including trucks, buses and cars, jumped an annual 77 percent in January

Jaguar Land Rover CEO leaves company

Jaguar Land Rover said CEO David Smith will leave the company.

The company said Ravi Kant, managing director of JLR owner Tata Motors, will assume Smith's responsibilities until a successor is announced.

Tata appointed Smith, 48, as JLR CEO in 2008 after the Indian conglomerate bought the British maker of sports cars and SUVs from Ford Motor Co.

"The company would like to thank David for his efforts in the role and for his service to Jaguar and Land Rover over many years," JLR said in a statement on Monday.

Smith, an Englishman, joined Ford in 1983 and served as a finance and strategy expert for Ford of Europe and its Premier Automotive Group during a long career with the U.S. automaker.

He was JLR's chief financial officer before Tata bought the carmaker and served as the company's acting CEO after death of then-CEO Geoff Polites in April 2008. Two months later Tata confirmed Smith's CEO role.

Last month, press reports in the UK and Germany said Carl-Peter Forster, who quit as head of General Motors Europe last November, will take over a senior position at JLR.

The Financial Times said Tata wants Forster to help JLR's plans to switch its product portfolio to low-emission vehicles. During his time with GM Europe Forster led a quality offensive at Opel and a move into low-emission and electric cars.

Forster gained experience with Land Rover during his time as head of production at BMW in the 1990s when BMW owned the British SUV brand, the Financial Times said.

The German weekly magazine Focus also said Forster will join Tata but said he would lead the introduction of the Nano minicar in Europe in 2011.

Mid-engined Jaguar flagship on the way

Big Cat reveals shock plans for a stunning rival to Audi's R8 – and Auto Express has the low-down!

Auto Express has learnt that Jaguar is working on an all-new, mid-engined coupe which is set to make its public debut in just 12 months time.

Aimed at the likes of the Audi R8, the top-secret machine has apparently beaten the long awaited F-Type in the race to be the first new sportscar launched by the company since its acquisition by Indian conglomerate, Tata. It revives plans for a flagship sports car, which were first revealead way back in 2001 with the R-Coupe (pictured).

Based on the current XK, the newcomer will also be the first mid-engined model from the Coventry car builder since the XJ220…launched 18 years ago in 1991.

Tipped to be called the XE, it will first appear as a concept, possibly at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010. Set to combine a dramatic silouhette with an imposing nose, the model is expected to be the most forward looking model the firm has yet produced.

Under the bonnet, the car is likely to use a tuned version of the XF-R's 503bhp 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine. Jaguar’s managing director Mike O’Driscoll said: “XK is the car that began a revolution for us, but it’s not the end of the story. I firmly believe the best car we could build to compliment this is a flagship coupé.”

For the full story, make sure you buy next week's issue of Auto Express, out January 21st.

Tata may need to invest $1B in Jaguar

 India's Tata group may have to spend at least $1 billion to revive premium brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which were bought by Tata Motors earlier this year, the Economic Timesreported on Tuesday.

Tata Sons, the holding company that holds large stakes in group firms, and unlisted financial services unit Tata Capital are among the options being considered to raise the cash, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed company sources.

"We will do everything in our ability to resource all our operations," the paper quoted a Tata Motors' spokesman as saying. Tata Motors paid $2.3 billion to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co. earlier this year, just as global auto sales began collapsing. He declined comment on the size of funds required.

A spokesman for Tata Motors could not be immediately reached by Reuters for comment.

On Monday, UK's Financial Times had reported that Tata Motors had agreed to inject "tens of millions of pounds" into Jaguar and Land Rover to prevent an immediate cash flow crisis.

Tata Motors, which has a market value of about $1.5 billion, has dropped 74 percent so far this year while the main BSE index is down more than half.